1,720,954 research outputs found
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Phytoconstituents from Turraea obtusifolia and their antiplasmodial activity
Get PDFPlease read abstract in the article.The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) of South Africa, the South African Research Chairs Initiative of the DSI, administered through the South African National Research Foundation, the South African Medical Research Council, the University of Pretoria Postgraduate Research Support Bursary, South Africa and the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Woman in Science grant.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gnpl202024-09-15hj2024BiochemistryChemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyUP Centre for Sustainable Malaria Control (UP CSMC)SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Are scientists barking up the wrong tree to “scientifically validate” traditional medicines?
Get PDFIn South Africa it is estimated that at least 70% of South Africans consult one of the more than 200,000 Traditional Healers in the country. Clearly traditional health practitioners in South Africa play a crucial role in providing primary health care to the majority of the population. This knowledge system together with South Africa's unique biodiversity provides valuable resources for scientists to undertake research in search of new pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals. Scientists often refer to this as “scientific validation of traditional medicines” which can be misleading to holders of the traditional knowledge since traditional health practitioners treat their patients holistically using traditional medicines consisting of one or more plant species. Four case studies i.e. appetite suppressant form Hoodia gordonii, monatin from Sclerochiton ilicifolius, mosquito repellent from Lippia javanica and the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and male pattern baldness from Elephantorrhiza elephantina which were either commercialized or close to commercialization are described and in all cases these have followed the classical drug discovery or product development route. These case studies have led to the realization that the traditional use of the plants were not exactly the same as the commercialized use. Often the scientists select plants based on traditional use and through scientific intervention discover similar biological activities or different biological activities of the plant species or constituents thereof. The scientific discoveries are further developed and the route to commercialization requires huge investment, time and resources. Hence it could be concluded that the approach has not been to scientifically validate the traditional uses of plants or traditional medicines. As scientists we need to be responsible when utilizing traditional knowledge in our research approaches and it is important to share benefits with the owners of indigenous knowledge.The CSIRhttp://www.elsevier.com/locate/sajb2020-11-01hj2019Chemistr
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
Leveraging off higher plant phylogenetic insights for antiplasmodial drug discovery
Get PDFAVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIAL : The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding
author upon reasonable request.The antimalarial drug-resistance conundrum which threatens to reverse the great strides taken to curb the malaria
scourge warrants an urgent need to find novel chemical scaffolds to serve as templates for the development of new
antimalarial drugs. Plants represent a viable alternative source for the discovery of unique potential antiplasmodial
chemical scaffolds. To expedite the discovery of new antiplasmodial compounds from plants, the aim of this
study was to use phylogenetic analysis to identify higher plant orders and families that can be rationally prioritised
for antimalarial drug discovery. We queried the PubMed database for publications documenting antiplasmodial
properties of natural compounds isolated from higher plants. Thereafter, we manually collated compounds reported
along with plant species of origin and relevant pharmacological data. We systematically assigned antiplasmodial-associated
plant species into recognised families and orders, and then computed the resistance index, selectivity index
and physicochemical properties of the compounds from each taxonomic group. Correlating the generated phylogenetic
trees and the biological data of each clade allowed for the identification of 3 ‘hot’ plant orders and families.
The top 3 ranked plant orders were the (i) Caryophyllales, (ii) Buxales, and (iii) Chloranthales. The top 3 ranked plant
families were the (i) Ancistrocladaceae, (ii) Simaroubaceae, and (iii) Buxaceae. The highly active natural compounds
(
IC50 ≤ 1 μM) isolated from these plant orders and families are structurally unique to the ‘legacy’ antimalarial drugs. Our
study was able to identify the most prolific taxa at order and family rank that we propose be prioritised in the search
for potent, safe and drug-like antimalarial molecules.The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) of South Africa, the University of Pretoria, the L’Oréal-UNESCO for Woman in Science and National Research Foundation of South Africa.https://link.springer.com/journal/13659am2024ChemistrySDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-15:Life on lan
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